Re: How do they know?
I've received an interesting pm from a Programmer working on brand new poker site software. He gave me the following insights:
1) When dealing with a server-based software program, (meaning that this type of program checks in with a server in order to run), the user's PC is checked routinely for configuration data, (because, say, the user could have installed a new graphics card from the last time he logged on, etc). That data normally stays on the user's computer, though, because the program itself needs to predict conflicts before they might crash the PC. It is not data that is normally collected and viewable by Customer Support.
2) When dealing with bots, run-time tools, etc, an online poker site needs to protect all the players on that service. This means being extra cautious about what other programs a person might be running during the time the game is running. So there's a Catch-22: in order to secure their customers from playing against bots, a poker site has to scour all their customers' systems in order to make sure they're not running bots, either. Again, that information should stay on the PC; until, of course, the program detects something out of sorts ... in which case the program sends back details to the Security Team.
Therefore, the answer to my question of "how did they know my RAM?" is they shouldn't have known that, or, at the very least, the Customer Service rep should not have had access to that information because it's not important for him to know.
Perhaps some sites have allowed their apparent diligence over security issues to blind them a little to the basic rights of privacy of their users?
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